“Hypnotize” by Audioslave

Audioslave
Epic
2002

This is a straightforward song with a hard message. “Hypnotize” is about the way we, the wealthy, hoard our fortune and echoes Ezekiel 16:49; ‘Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had arrogance, abundant food, and careless ease, but she did not help the poor and needy. Thus they were haughty and committed abominations before Me. Therefore I removed them when I saw it.’ This song is an explicit call to share our wealth (both individually and corporately) with others. The implication if we don’t is that we will be surprised by our reward, which will be punishment.

Well if you set your mind upon it

I know that you can

You got everything you wanted

You've done everything you planned

So let me make an offer

I'm only trying to help

You can make your load

Just a little lighter

All you got to do is

Share the wealth

Oh no don't you keep your

Good luck to yourself

Oh no don't you keep your

Good luck to yourself

I know you've got problems

I see it in your eyes

But if you want to live

To see the morning

Leave it up to your brother

Or you get a surprise

Oh no don't you keep your

Good luck to yourself

Oh no don't you keep your

Good luck to yourself

Well it's time to see

You've got to give or you’re gonna receive

Hey it's time to see

You've got to give if you wanna believe

You won’t breathe

It's time to see

Oh no don't you keep your

Good luck to yourself

Oh no don't you keep your

Good luck to yourself

Interpretation

Well if you set your mind upon it

I know that you can

You got everything you wanted

You've done everything you planned

This stanza describes the privilege most of us experience. Those of us in this condition can decide to do something and follow through on it not because we are extraordinary people but because we’ve been given every benefit in life. We have “everything” we want and have done “everything” we hoped to do. Now, if we decide to be sacrificial we can do that too.

So let me make an offer

I'm only trying to help

You can make your load

Just a little lighter

All you got to do is

Share the wealth

The narrator approaches the message like a business proposal with a clear benefit for the hearer. The benefit? We can lighten our load by sharing our wealth. In what way would our load be lighter? I get the picture of a person lugging a chest full of gold up a hill, stubbornly refusing to reduce the weight to travel faster. Or a child eating himself into a sugar coma rather than share the candy with his sister.

Oh no don't you keep your

Good luck to yourself

Oh no don't you keep your

Good luck to yourself

The chorus is self-explanatory. Good luck and is responsible for our great wealth (see Jared Diamond’s excellent book, Guns, Germs, and Steel for more on this). Since our affluence is not of our making we shouldn’t pretend that we are entitled to stockpile it.

I know you've got problems

I see it in your eyes

But if you want to live

To see the morning

Leave it up to your brother

Or you get a surprise

The wealthy person has problems that are obvious from looking “in your eyes”. Could it be a dehumanized hollowness resulting from worshipping wealth? Or maybe fear of dying, an inevitability that no amount of money can prevent? If the wealthy person wants to “see the morning” (or the Kingdom of God) they must share their wealth or they will “get a surprise”. These people will find themselves outside the Kingdom. Despite any religious activity they engaged in during their life they might be unfit for the Kingdom solely because of their treatment of the power and powerless. This is described vividly in Matthew 25:31 where Judgment is brought on all nations at Jesus’ return. Those unfit for the Kingdom (the goats) are judged so because of their treatment of the poor, hungry, oppressed, etc.

Oh no don't you keep your

Good luck to yourself

Oh no don't you keep your

Good luck to yourself

Well it's time to see

You've got to give or you’re gonna receive

Hey it's time to see

You've got to give if you wanna believe

You won’t breathe

It's time to see

This stanza evokes images of Jesus’ parable of Lazarus the beggar and the rich man from Luke 16:19. Just like the rich man in the story, the wealthy will see their folly when they die. They will mourn that they worshipped money and wasted their life. As a result, they will receive their reward in full; they won’t breathe, they will be dead in their sins in this life and the next by worshipping their wealth and hoarding it. Conversely, they will breathe; they will truly be alive by giving and sharing. The act of giving will open their eyes and allow them to enter the Kingdom.

Oh no don't you keep your

Good luck to yourself

Oh no don't you keep your

Good luck to yourself